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<title>What does forgiveness taste like? by Tell_me_about_it_shug</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24450955">What does forgiveness taste like?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tell_me_about_it_shug/pseuds/Tell_me_about_it_shug'>Tell_me_about_it_shug</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>And it's in the quality of the Gods [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ares Deserves better, Emotional Hurt, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore, Men Crying, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Soft Ares and Hephaestus, Zeus Being an Asshole (Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore), tagging is hard, this turned out softer than I Expected</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:34:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24450955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tell_me_about_it_shug/pseuds/Tell_me_about_it_shug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>His interest in him is misguided at first. He wants him to hurt. He wants to crush him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ares and Hephaestus.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ares &amp; Hephaestus (Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>And it's in the quality of the Gods [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What does forgiveness taste like?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His interest in him is misguided at first; some twisted thing inside of him begging to be let out. He's made of fire and all he wants to do is burn.</p><p>He wants to crush him into stardust and ash between his fingers for taking her from him. He prowls down Olympus like some half-starved, savage beast looking for its prey, a fire churning beneath his flesh and in his fingertips and steam billowing out between his teeth. He stalks the base of Olympus until soft grass and earth turn to jagged rock and ash and soot. He lurks at the yawning mouth of a blackened cave.</p><p>His brother is a hulking mass of uneven flesh and scars and muscle, massive arms balancing bricks of iron and steel and bronze. </p><p>Ares remembers the delicate rose that won Aphrodite, thin petals of stained glass and a stem of gilded gold, and cannot fathom how this man, this beast, made something so fragile.</p><p>"Fight me, Beast."</p><p>°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°<br/>"Does it hurt sometimes?"</p><p>He's basking in the sun, stretched out on the grass, and half asleep.</p><p>"Does what hurt?" He asks, voice thick with sleep.</p><p>Hephaestus shifts somewhere around his left. "War." He says.</p><p>"We are Gods, Hephaestus. Physical pain means nothing. War is my livelihood"</p><p>"That's not what I meant."</p><p>°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°<br/>The beast doesn't spare him a glance. It continues to bring its hammer down heavy upon the heated metal beneath it.</p><p>Ares grits his teeth hard enough to break them. "Look at me when I speak to you, creature." He spits. It would not do to ignore him.</p><p>It sighs, full-bodied, and tired. The fire in the hearth flickers.</p><p>"Leave this place," It says. "You achieve nothing by coming here. You will only gain Aphrodite's ire." </p><p>Ares spits at the creatures turned back. "Do not speak of her! You know nothing of her!" He screams, red-faced, and sword drawn.</p><p>"Don't I?" It says, finally turning to face him. " She chose me. Not you."</p><p>Ares lifts his sword and swings down heavy.</p><p>°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°<br/>It's quiet for a moment and Ares assumes Hephaestus is done. He'd like nothing more than to drift back to sleep but Hephaestus' voice rings in his head. "Does it hurt sometimes?"</p><p> He knew what Hephaestus meant. </p><p>Zeus proclaimed him God of war and Ares hurt meant nothing. His skin used to be soft and his hair long and braided. He was beautiful then. He didn't taste of war. He didn't have battles on his skin, stitched from his front to his back. His body didn't know the feel of rebuilding bone by fragile bone or the tase of human blood back then. </p><p>He only knew the softness of his heart and the sweat on the back of his neck after running all day.</p><p>He learned quickly, that war had no place for boys like him. Boys with soft hands and a softer hearts.</p><p>He remembers the faces of his victims. He doesn't remember how to ask for forgiveness.</p><p>He rolls on his side and looks at his little brother, he who has received so little kindness in his life and still has it in him to be gentle, and thinks he could try.</p><p>"Do you remember when we first met?"</p><p>°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°<br/>It catches the blade in the meat of its palm before the sword could meet it's neck. </p><p>It looks him in the eye, unflinching. "Leave this place. I have no quarl with you." It shoves his sword away.</p><p>"Leave before Aphrodite returns."</p><p>Ares wants to spit again, wants to burn some more. He wants to scream. But the creature has a point. </p><p>"I'll be back." He says and the creature just goes back to hammering.</p><p>°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°<br/>The corners of his lips twitch into a wary smile. "How could I forget?" </p><p>"I called you a monster," He says softly. " A creature."</p><p>Hephaestus blinks at him slowly. "Yes." </p><p>"I was terrible to you."</p><p>"You were," He nods. "What of it?"</p><p>Ares's voice thickens. This used to be so much easier. "I'm... you must know I didn't mean it." </p><p>Hephaestus laughs softly. He scoots closer to Ares and pats his hand. "Take your time, Ares." He mumbles, voice soft as if Ares is the one who needs comforting.</p><p>And maybe he does.</p><p>"I forgave you for that ages ago," Hephaestus says. He's moved closer now, petting Ares head softly. "I think, maybe now it's time you forgave yourself." He says and Ares can't take it.</p><p>Hephaestus doesn't say anything about Ares' quiet sobs.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I'm trying to work on my dialogue because writing dialogue is h a r d. Please leave comments! Don't be shy!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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